It's common knowledge that comedy ages faster than any other genre, making it even more impressive that Gary Larson's The Far Side is as funny today as the day it was published. Indeed, Far Side's December 1984 comics just turned 40, and yet they're still as chuckle-worthy as ever.

Here are the 10 best Far Side comics that just turned 40 - the best of the best from Gary Larson's extensive output over December 1984. Get ready for caveman inventions, ravenous bear attacks, and one of the most controversial comics Gary Larson ever penned.

10 The Invention of Dessert

Far Side's December 3, 1984 Comic

One of Larson's most iconic repeating jokes is the idea of cavemen inventing modern-day traditions and gadgets. Larson's usual gag is the hominids applying modern-day standards and logic to the base form of a tradition or gadget - like two cavemen playing the first game of checkers on a board that only has two squares. However, in this gag, he flips the script, with the early humans accidentally inventing 'dessert' after spotting a lizard that wandered into their cave right after they'd just finished a hearty mammoth meal. Open the image gallery below for more of Larson's caveman invention comics.

While the joke is usually that Far Side's cavemen are trying to invent a modern concept, this comic is actually more realistic, depicting the first time that anyone had the idea of a smaller meal right after a large meal. Larson's comic imagines its cavemen as hunters to who it would never occur to track down a smaller animal for dessert - but in a situation where one presents itself, a novel idea is born.

9 Tracks in the Snow

Far Side's December 5, 1984 Comic

While Gary Larson has a gift with language and a love of wordplay and idioms, some of Far Side's best gags are totally wordless, with the reader working out the context for themselves. Letting the reader 'finish' the gag enhances the humor they find in it, and that's the case here, as Larson depicts an unlucky person being eaten by a bear without actually showing either human or bear. Open the image gallery below to enjoy more of Larson's wordless comics.

With most Far Side comics only using a single , Larson became a master of telling an entire story in one image, and the footstep comic showcases his mastery of his craft.

8 I See You, I See You

Far Side's December 6, 1984 Comic

Larson is the master of combining the morbid and dark with the everyday and mundane, and this comic is the perfect example. As an executioner prepares to ply his grisly trade, he's forced to pause in order to wave to his mom in the audience, who won't be happy until she knows he's ed her . It's the kind of situation everyone can relate to - being embarrassed by an over-eager but loving parent - jammed into a context that no-one can relate to. The resultant incongruity is core to The Far Side's sense of humor.

7 Let It Run for a Minute

Far Side's December 4, 1984 Comic

In another comic juxtaposing a bizarre situation with an everyday response, a group of desperate survivors are asked to put off quenching their thirst in case a miraculous water fountain is about to get a little colder. Larson is a commendable observer of human behavior, and takes a situation that might just be tolerable in an office environment, then drops it into a situation where the same behavior is potentially life and death.

6 The Importance of Stretching

Far Side's December 26, 1984 Comic

In a simple visual gag, a group of viking raiders engage in athletic stretches before beginning to pillage a medieval castle. The rampaging, bloodthirsty warriors doing something so unexpectedly sensible is a funny gag, but the poses of the fierce warriors loosening up are what really carry this comic.

5 Bedtime, Leroy

Far Side's December 7, 1984 Comic

Some of Larson's funniest comics hinge on the reader picking up on a specific detail that brings the gag together. In this case, a woman puts her pet bird to sleep by covering its cage using a cloth covered in predatory animals. It's an odd thing to do, but not a joke in itself... until you see the poor, featherless bird, clearly beyond stressed by the images on the blanket. Most of Larson's comic strip contemporaries would never risk readers missing a joke, but Larson reliably took that risk in the name of delivering the best gag possible.

Pet birds are a frequent feature of The Far Side, with Larson setting up an inherently antagonistic relationship between parakeets and the people who lock them in cages. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics about pet birds.

4 Here, Fifi!

Far Side's December 12, 1984 Comic

While fans have never agreed whether this comic is funny or offensive, we had to include it because of its importance to Far Side history. In The Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson shares that this was the first Far Side comic to "score really big in the negative reaction department." In the book, Larson relates that pretty much every one of his comics that received hate mail implied some kind of harm coming to children or animals, but that he was never trying to upset anyone with his work.

Larson argues that the humor in this comic isn't about laughing at the dog, but the incongruity of the owner gaily calling for her pet, only for the reader to spot the mean-spirited trap she's laid in wait. He points out that this theme is common in cartoons, but that some segment of the audience still can't stand to see any human inflicting harm on an animal, no matter how cartoonish the presentation. Hate mail for the comic included one letter reading:

Gary Larson's cartoon made me furious. It was cruel, stupid and ridiculous, not to mention hideous, idiotic and sick. In fact, all of Larson's cartoons make me furious.

3 You Might Be a Kangaroo...

Far Side's December 28, 1984 Comic

Anyone who's an expert in any subject has had the experience of a self-confident amateur insisting on telling them their business. In this case, the victim of the lecture is a literal kangaroo who's had the bad luck to sit next to someone who considers themselves a budding expert on marsupials.

Life is particularly hard for The Far Side's kangaroos - the situations they find themselves in may be goofy, but they also rarely run in the poor animals' favor.

2 Stay in the Cab, Vern

Far Side's December 22, 1984 Comic

While cows are The Far Side's biggest obsession, bears appear almost as often, often taking on human hunters. In this case, three bears have set up a cunning ambush, though thankfully the human driver is too canny to fall for it. Larson makes this silly situation even funnier by making the truck part of a business that seems custom-designed to attract bears - Bob's Honey, Berries and Grubs. Open the image gallery below for more of The Far Side's bear comics.

1 The Invention of Fire

Far Side's December 25, 1984 Comic

In this strip, Larson returns to the idea of caveman invention. Yet again, he subverts the usual joke, imagining a hominid R&D department working tirelessly to discover fire, rather than early humans learning from the world around them. It's classic Far Side to take an image of people fleeing a burning building and turn that image into a sign of success, not disaster.

Those are the funniest Far Side comics that just turned 40, with Larson visiting many of his favorite themes over December 1984 - some of them twice!